Crossroads
by bored-german-author
Summary: Soulmates. Lovino Vargas didn't fit well with his at all. As for his brother and the German? They seemed to be made for each other. And Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio all bond over rejection. Though perhaps if the Albino could just stop his nose from bleeding, he'd have a chance. T rating is just in case. Soulmate AU, enjoy :D ***Human AU, ages will not be "accurate"***
1. Prologue

' _Supposedly everyone possesses a single red string bound to their ankles'_

 _Throughout life, the string forever remains bound until the day it leads to one's soulmate, who lies at the other end._

 _However the string may twist and knot, it never breaks-_ ''

The school teacher paused mid word. Her lips pursed and eyes narrowed.

"Lovino." She barked. The usual fiddling kindergartener was turned around in his spot on the floor, growling at the boy behind him who'd only laughed in response. Naturally the young Italian ignored the educator, too focused on cussing out (oh yes, his guardians would definitely receive a phone call that day.) the figure behind him, Antonio, one of the taller boys (who could even pass for a second grader at times) had taken the liberty of flicking Lovi's counter and of all things fucking breaking it about a week prior. This had left the Italian an ugly mess of growls and curses, the much smaller boy currently swatting Antonio's arm angrily before finally shoving him back and jumping on top of him.

"B-BASTARDO! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?"

"Get off me!" Antonio squirmed under him, the two struggling.

Two things to know: Lovino's grandfather was notorious for teaching him the more...slang elements of the Italian language; and this event wasn't an uncommon spectacle. The Spanish boy had just moved to the school of recent. The two didn't get along from the start, the same argument of Antonio supposedly breaking Lovino's counter exploding into the air within minutes of being in the same room.

"LOVINO."

The teacher's now stern voice cut through the air easily, the small Italian freezing. However fiery, the kindergartener knew when he was beat, offering Antonio a final snarl before scooting back into place and cursing under his breath.

"I don't get your problem." The Spaniard hissed. "I've been nothing but nice, I didn't break your stupid counter. Maybe YOU broke mine." He flashed the underside of his wrist which read '00' 00' 00' at the other dark haired boy before both turned away, the Italian scowling.

Meanwhile the teacher cleared her throat, looking back down at her notes and then at the children on the floor.

"Now, the red string never breaks no matter how much it bends. This is what they used to teach children like you guys a very long time ago." She smiled. "Now...you all have your counters, right?" She held up her own (which had depleted to zero upon meeting her now fiancé) and the students did so in response.

"The red string story eventually evolved into the soul mate theory, which is what society now uses as a basis. It's a form of order." She slowly got up, writing the name in big letters on the chalkboard behind her.

"You'll learn more about this when you're in the big kid grades, but everything in the universe is made of matter, which can't be created or destroyed. Supposedly, at the beginning of time, certain elements of matter that make up our DNA happened to be close to each other. Through the soul mate theory it's thought that these elements want nothing more than to find each other again, which is why you have these." She pointed to her own small metal device.

"This is called a counter as most of your parents have probably already told you. Counters are inserted at birth and grow at the same rate you do. The numbers on it are counting down to when you'll meet your soul mate. It monitors exactly how much time you have until you'll meet them."

The small Italian boy was fidgeting again, growling slightly.

"Like the red string in the story, no matter how long it may take, your counter will never break. It'll always lead you."

"...yeah right." Lovino muttered with a glare at Antonio.

"Mine's broken too, you know. I didn't ask for this." The boy whispered back, shrinking slightly at the teacher's warning glare before she continued speaking again.

"No. You broke mine. And I hate you." He whipped his head around and barked at the Spaniard, their teacher only looking between the two with a soft exhale before pinching the bridge of her nose. It was often rare for partners to meet so young in life- and hold such an animosity.

But that way was more interesting, right?


	2. Clockwork

Now quite a few years had come to pass before the two struggling kindergarteners with 'broken counters' had grown alongside each other. A few things to know about each boy.

Lovino (who still had his massive anger issues), was a boy of Italian descent. His house was large and constantly full of people. He had two other brothers and currently lived with his grandfather as his parents had passed when he and his siblings were very young. His oldest brother, Sergio, was currently a college student and abroad; the family hadn't had contact with him in years. His younger, feliciano, was another story. The two Italians were just close enough in age to be in the same year, however on the scale of mentality Feliciano's matched that of a butterfly. Or perhaps an overly excited puppy would be a better term. The two fought constantly, or more accurately the younger figure was the scapegoat to Lovino's anger, an emotion that feliciano seemed to be almost incapable of feeling. Oddly enough as he was often harassed by certain people in his school. Another reason Lovino was often angry and annoyed was because he saved his brother's ass on a regular basis.

Now for Antonio, the Spaniard lived in a quiet and rural home. His family owned a vineyard. He was an only child who spent most of his time outside, leaving him with a noticeably tan olive tone skin (making him very popular with the ladies.). He'd always been gentler than Lovino, though knew how to hold himself up when the moment called for it. If needed he could punt his Italian soulmate (whom he'd kindly nicknamed 'Lovi') across the room like a football. But typically verbal responses were all that were needed. For some odd reason neither could bring themselves to hit the other.

Ah yes, the matter of soulmates.

The fact remained. Sometime past kindergarten the two of course managed to put two and two together; and Lovino didn't accept it. To some extent Antonio didn't either. The idea of his soulmate being a man bothered him. He'd never thought himself gay. Regardless, he tried his best to be as amicable as he could. There were definitely parts of the Italian he liked. His voice had a nice tone to it, a soft but noticeable accent touching each word thanks to fluent speaking at home. He liked how his hair felt, thick and shiny. However the Italian's anger made things stressful. All of his attempts to be nice often ending in screaming, cursing (naturally), or oddly enough silence. This took place on rare occasion. In moments it did, the Spaniard didn't know how to feel. It made him almost scared and unsure. It brought forth very strange feelings; ones he wouldn't even share with Francis, his long term friend. If anything, should his soulmate have HAD to be male, he would've preferred Francis. Not that he'd ever want to fuck Francis but that was beside the point. His mother had handled things somewhat well, simply explaining 'sometimes soulmates are just..difficult to click, in the beginning.'

And his response was always 'isn't it a little late now, though?'.

In truth it was but only for his circumstance. It was rare people found a soulmate in high school- let alone so young. It was as though he'd moved there for a reason. That reason. And unknown to the Spaniard, Lovino mirrored many of these thoughts. He hardly thought he was some gay priss. He played sports, he even had dirty magazines thanks to his grandfather. But why did this happen? Feliciano was always the one who brought up the idea of fate. Fate, Lovino felt, was a stupid idea. The whole reason the soul mate theory came to light was because it couldn't have been fate, it was science. Unless of course science and fate were the same thing. Either way it was what brought them together.

And boy, did he hate it.

Unbeknownst to either of the Italian brothers, fate, science, or whatever you'd prefer to call it, was definitely playing it's hand. Three summers past, a house a few blocks down at become vacant. It hadn't been sold until the boy's sophomore year of high school. The town had only spoke a little about it, but the rumors were that the family had come from some part of Germany. Feliciano had been reading when he heard this from a loud and pissy Lovino, the boy jumping up and walking over to his grandfather.

"Are there really people moving in down the street..?" He allowed his elbows to rest on the table as he spoke, tilting his head up at a much larger man that took to reading the newspaper.

"Sí...the ah...Bielschmidts, I think it was? They seem rather reserved, I know Fritz worked the international division at work for a little." The Italian murmured gently, sipping a cup of coffee and looking at his grandson.

"You could bring over some banana bread if you'd like, it'd be good to welcome them to the neighborhood." He gestured to a tinfoil object at the corner of the table, nodding as Feliciano went to pick it up.

"Two blocks down, number 32. Alright?"

The boy uttered a quick 'yes grandpa' before snatching up the banana bread and bounding out the door. The air was light and crisp; it was in the last stretch of summer, a week left till school started. The streets were calm and quiet as Feli walked, soon finding the old house he'd recalled as baron and empty for a majority of his life. Now it had people, life. Possibly new friends. The air around the house felt thick and warm, the garage open and boxes scattered against the walls. He felt an odd happy feeling well up, as well as a strange warmth in his wrist as he knocked on the door. His eyes drifted to his counter slowly.

His wrist read '00'00'56'

56 seconds.

56 seconds until he met his...

Feliciano shook his head, shakily clutching the banana bread and leaning on the door. It was probably just coincidence, perhaps she was walking down the street. His eyes were wide however as the counter kept going...at a very quick pace.

34...33...

"...fuck..." he whispered. The sound of footsteps approaching the door only made this worse. He panicked, eyeing himself in the doorknob and trying to fix his hair.

'00'00'07'

'Oh god this must be it. Did grandpa even say if they had kids..? Or girls even?!' He held his breath, supporting himself on the door and trying to look through the peephole.

The Italian's counter stopped as the door opened. It stopped just as his hand slipped, the banana bread fell to the ground, and he roughly tumbled forwards against an strong pair of arms. The figure supported him, their eyes as surprised as his own but a much prettier blue color as well as a more serious aura. Feliciano took a moment for the situation to register before looking at the figure in front of him, then his counter.

'00'00'00'

His counter had dropped like Lovino's had dropped all those years ago, in class. He felt a rising sensation from his heart, allowing himself to see the rest of the girl aside from the beatific blue eyes.

She had blonde hair, slicked back and cut short, and a very sharp jawline.

Feliciano's heart stopped.

His soulmate was a boy.


	3. Starting Introductions

The figure in front of Feliciano was just as confused as he was, the Italian freezing as he took a small window of time to study their being.

The boy (appearing to be something around the his age) was very tall and muscular. His face held a serious composure, the only small amount of emotion showing in his eyes. He was an obvious German- pale and aryan with harsh features and bright blue eyes. Now at the moment said German had no idea why exactly the smaller boy had fallen back onto the ground. Nor why he'd dropped the tinfoil object.

Feli's lower lip quivered slightly as he looked up at him.

"-I have to go."

This was all he could utter as he scrambled, squeaking loudly when the blonde figure made a sudden motion.

Feliciano bolted like his life depended on it, his heart racing too fast for him to think.

This naturally only left the poor German, who's name was Ludwig, confused and concerned. He'd simply knelt to pick up the banana bread. By the time his hand had closed around it, however, the other boy had disappeared down the street in an odd craze.

"...odd..." he murmured. His voice was deep, a thick accent coating it (much darker in comparison to the brother's light and happy tone.)

"..he left his parcel." Ludwig stood and slowly shut the door, stepping back into his new home and sighing. Loud music sounded from down the hall as older brother Gilbert peeked his head out of his room. The boy was an albino; his skin was the lightest shade possible, pure white. As was his hair, eyebrows, eyelashes; near every inch of his figure. The only thing that stood out was his set of bright red eyes, typically too intense to look at for a long period of time.

However at the moment they held a more...frankly stupid and cocky look that every teenage boy possesses. Granted he was currently swaying to the beat of whatever god awful song he was blaring, using a broom as a makeshift guitar.

"Oiii what was that brüdder? Sounded like you killed a squirrel or something."

Ludwig rolled his eyes, exhaling.

"I don't know. The residents here are...weird."

"Aw come on, give the Americans a chance."

"Tch. Shut up. I'm here for good schooling and college, that's I-ow-" Ludwig clenched his teeth mid sentence, feeling a sudden heat on his wrist and then shaking out his hand.

"..damn counter. Thing's been fucking up all week."

Gilbert tilted his head and then shrugged.

"Why don't you try looking at the thing for once? Maybe you've found the ooooone."

The other german only grunted at this, his face a mixture of curiosity and annoyance.

"I'll check it out later. I...have to go study."

"Study what?!" The albino cackled. "Dein Englisch ist perfekt," he teased, eyes brightening as a guitar solo started and sent him off into a crazed dance. He looked like a lunatic, simply laughing madly as his younger brother folded his arms. "...come oooon. School doesn't start for week, so relax yourself before you bury your nose in a book for six months." Gilbert whined lightly before suddenly dropping to his knees, shaking his head and lip syncing to the words as he 'played' another verse.

"Nein. I just- need to work. I'll see you later." Ludwig took in a small breath before quickly disappearing up the stairs and into his room. That smaller boy was weird. He'd made him feel something weird. A fear almost; a fear of looking at his counter.

Feliciano was out of breath before he made it home. His heart was racing, body shaking slightly as he could finally see the door in sight. His path was blocked, however (which he found out much to late) as he ran headfirst into a very very pissed off Italian. His brother. Lovino looked just as scared and upset as he did, muttering a colorful variety of curses as he seemed to check the area to see who was around, then locking eyes with Feli wordlessly before dragging him into the house. The way he slammed the door almost gave off the vibe of some sort of chase.

"...f-fratello...?"

The smaller Italian was already a slight mess, breathing shakily. His brother's condition didn't help this.

"...that..that bastard-" Lovino looked around the room before exhaling and dragging Feliciano up the stairs into his room, again slamming another door and then looking at him.

"I-it's complicated-er-" His scattered breathing was far worse than Feli's, though both sharing a panicked look. "...you go first."

Feliciano scooted back on his brother's bed until his back met the wall, leaning against it.

"W-well- my counter broke. Just now, down the street. Oh..I remember, it was very nice and sunny outside and pretty but also kind of saddening because I don't wanna go back to school-"

Lovino twitched. He hated when Feli rambled.

"OI STAY FOCUSED, IDIOT." He growled and grabbed him by the shoulders before exhaling tensely. "...your counter broke, go on."

Feliciano shook slightly but nodded.

"Yeah, I was bringing banana bread over to the new neighbor people but then my clock started being all weird and things got really warm and confusing and then there was this tall blonde guy-"

"..tall...blonde..you're-" the dark haired male stared at his brother before biting his lip, slowly shaking his head. He'd been told some shit that people need to figure this out by themselves. You're not allowed to interfere. He grit his teeth and then clenched his fists.

"Right right well- that's great for you but. That bastardo. That fucking stupidass spanish cu-"

Feli cut him off.

"Antonio? You were with Antonio?"

Both Italian's blinked. Each rambled on their own way. Some just...in a little more questionable manner.

"..sí. That bastardo- he- HE APOLOGIZED." Lovino looked like he was about to pitch a fit. He recalled the event perfectly, speaking it allowed with angry expressions (and his hands of course.)

Just after around when Feliciano had left, Lovi decided to pay a visit to Francis' house. The Frenchman had called him stating that some assistance was needed with the summer reading for their English class. This struck him as off already- as Francis was the king of procrastinators. Often he indulged himself in..other activities rather than schoolwork. Either way it was that, or chores. So of course he'd picked that.

"..what is it Francis? You better make this quick, god knows when that Spanish ass will show his u-"

The Italian's sentence had been cut off by a very familiar smile and set of dark eyes.

Antonio.

Francis sat the counter, eyes trained on a magazine as he sipped a cup of tea.

"...this is what you would call an intervention, oui. I trust you two know what it's about." The teenager's blond hair fell in messy locks, stopping just above his shoulders. A smug smile crossed his lips as he looked at the two.

"Intervention? You ASS you said you needed help with homework-"

"And you believed me. Now you morons have been arguing since..preschool? Kindergarten? Since the dawn of time for all I know." He huffed as he flipped another page. "Now make up. I'm bored with this."

Lovino was pissed as he stared at Francis, his anger only growing more as he noticed Antonio was of all things fuckin m.

The bastard was calm.

And of course, he had to smile. God. That stupidass perfect smile that showed every possible positive emotion- it was disgusting.

"..you...yOU BAST-"

He was cut off once more instead now by Antonio, who'd stepped forwards.

"Lovi, please listen to me. I know there are some things that I need to say, and you need to hear."

God, his voice was so fucking calm. He hated it.

"...d-don't call me Lovi."

"Fine then, Lovino Vargas." The Spaniard stared at him, dark eyes seeming to go through the Italian's figure as he spoke. "I'm only here to tell you that I'm sorry."

Just as his mouth had opened to utter a loud retort did the words register.

"Sorry? You ass, fucking- fucking sorry-"

"Yes." Antonio's expression hardened. "I'm sorry I broke your counter. Obviously that soulmate theory is wrong in some way. I'm sorry for the hell I seem to have put you through, whether we're talking about kindergarten or freshman year."

Loving fell silent.

"So I'm coming to assure you that I'm not going to bother you anymore. Sophomore year, senior year, and so on."

Gingerly he reached out, clasping the Italian's hand that also had the counter on it and leaning down, brushing his lips across the back of his palm.

"I only ask for your forgiveness."

Lovi shook slightly. He wasn't sure if he liked or disliked these words.

So he let his mouth do the thinking.

"...g-good." He managed to jerk his hand back after a moment of contemplation.

"Bastard. Finally. I- I'm-" he looked between Francis and Antonio, feeling a weird clench in his heart. It seemed like the Spaniard was about to speak before more words vomited out of the small Italian.

"G-GOOD RIDDANCE. THANKS FOR BREAKING MY FUCKING COUNTER-" His first reaction (which had been his default since birth) was naturally anger. He spun on his heel and went out the door before he could hear any other comment- he doubted he would've anyways as blood was pounding in his ears. His heart stopped slightly as he made his way home at the shuddering realization of how he meant to end that phrase.

"...and just leaving." Lovi whispered.

"I'm an idiot."

Lovino begun muttering again towards the end of his story, his brother gingerly reaching out an arm and patting his shoulder. The Italian snarled and pulled away. He didn't know how to feel. He'd always hated Antonio-somewhat. No- there shouldn't be any question. He'd hated him.

And now, for some empty reason, he hated himself too.


	4. Call it fate, or call fate a dick

Lovino was oddly quieter for the rest of the week. He'd become enveloped in that sense of silence; the silence few could bring on.

It scared Feliciano and concerned their grandfather immensely. Up until the day school started, he was near mute. He didn't even rant or scream, not even when Feli sang or did much of anything his brother usually found annoying.

At the moment though, despite his worry over his brother's condition, the small Italian had been fixated on the boy he'd met prior. His features, everything he could remember, along with that strange...

He could only describe it as warmth. Some sort of odd heat. And Feliciano sort of enjoyed it. It felt very right. However he'd been much too terrified to even go back near the house or street. It was only several days into sophomore year that the universe gave him another opportunity.

Intro classes had gone well. Lovino had stalked by each day, desperately avoiding Antonio, Feliciano subconsciously doing the opposite; hopelessly searching for the German. None such luck. Up until the current day, of course. It was lunch hour and a quickly growing group had gathered outside, viewing some odd spectacle that involved a series of loud cursed. Feliciano of course followed the othets, peeking under and over other students to witness what exactly was happening. All he could really make out was a figure with a bloody nose lying on the ground, and a familiar girl standing above him.

Elizaveta Hédervary.

A force of nature who's family originally came from Hungary, mistaken as a boy often through most of her childhood. Her eyes stuck out, being a bright emerald green. Her hair was a dark and ashy blonde color that usually fell down neatly around her waist.

Beautiful a girl she may have grown into, her personality was out there, loud, somewhat crazy and a little on the violent side. Currently she was shaking out a hand with freshly bruised knuckles, looking down at the figure on the ground who oddly enough seemed to be trying to have a conversation with her. Feli knew well what'd be coming next. He only prayed the other boy didn't want to have ch-

His thoughts stopped instantly as he found a pair of familiar blue eyes in the crowd. The boy from several days before. His heart pounded once more, the Italian trying to slowly slip through the crowd but pausing as the blonde suddenly entered the circle.

"Idiot!" He muttered. His voice was much different. Feliciano couldn't quite place the accent. He watched as the boy called Ludwig knelt beside the injured figure who had frozen mid smile, thanks to a decent kick to the lower regions. Feliciano was bewildered as Ludwig lifted the other boy up by the arm and dragged him away like it was no problem. He managed to catch the latter figure mouthing 'call me' to the Hungarian, who only responded with a disgusted yet amused tone.

"...pervert."

Blinking, Feliciano only realized he'd begun to follow the two after he'd passed the crowd and ducked down a hallway.

The two brothers hadn't attended school until a few days in. Fritz had made sure all papers were set for his grandkids before the finally made. Gilbert was entering as a junior, Ludwig a sophomore. Both shared their nerves but handled it in much different manners.

Ludwig preened. He slicked his hair back, did the top button of his shirt (the fact he wore a button down alone brought laughter from his older brother.), and perhaps even combed his eyebrows, though he'd never admit it.

His albino sibling on the other hand?

Gilbert preferred the air of not caring. His red eyes were wide and excited, the German singing along to yet another god awful song as he got ready quickly. He seemed to have a more positive outlook on this than Ludwig; he was humming in the kitchen, car, and principal's office upon receiving his schedule. Gilbert in fact couldn't wait.

"Oii brüdder. Do you ever just get a really good feeling? That like, something good's going to happen?" He walked ludwig to his first block once they'd been shown their lockers, both depositing whatever was needed.

"Have you been drinking..?" The blonde muttered back under his breath.

"Hah, I wish. The legal drinking age here is much too high.."

Ludwig could only roll his eyes, falling silent as he went to his class. Part of him wondered if that weird boy went here. The one who'd left that small package. He still hadn't opened it, though unknown to his brother he kept it in his backpack. Should he ever meet the boy again, he'd be able to return it. Most of these thoughts oddly enough clouded Ludwig's mind, much to his annoyance as he tried to get through each class silently.

Gilbert however had a harder time.

The albino was naturally greeted with odd looks at first. He only responded with his pure white grin, even offering a small bow and a wink to a few select people as he searched for a seat. The one he settled on was by a kid with messy blonde hair, texting under his desk and observing Gilbert out of the corner of his eye. He yawned boredly, silent at first but soon managing conversation towards the middle of the day.

It was when lunch hour came that the real struggle began.

H e r.

Just as he'd retreated to his locker, Gilbert's heart suddenly pounded. He felt an almost sense of nervousness, suddenly lifting his chin up to eye the hallway that was slowly filling with teenagers. One in particular caught his eye. She was short but had a much larger essence. He was typically suave in many areas, the albino leaning on his locker to make a comment but instead finding his words stopping in his throat. Gilbert locked eyes with the girl only briefly as he watched her chuckle before continuing on her way. He felt a stinging heat in his wrist before shaking out his arm, huffing and moving towards her. It'd grown crowded, so only when they made it outside to the outer portion of the cafeteria seating did he reach her.

More specifically out for her.

However perverted Gilbert may have acted at times, he did respect women. So naturally when he reached to nudge her on the shoulder he had no intention of tapping somewhere lower.

Of course Gilbert ended up stumbling instead, catching himself and managing to grip on her skirt. It made no sense to him, he was usually so well composed so- smooth, but something was stopping him.

As for the girl? Well, all she felt was something under her skirt.

The Hungarian whipped her head around instantly, Gilbert's red eyes meeting her green. Before he could open his mouth to apologize, he felt a fist meet him right across the bridge of his nose, his albino figure crumpling down in front of the girl who uttered a stream of curses.

"Excuse you? What- what the hell was that? Are you a fucking IDIOT?"

A few people gathered around, more joining slowly as Gilbert stared at her dumbly.

"...I'm not a fucking idiot...I'm Gilbert." He grinned proudly as blood dribbled down his chin. Every facial movement hurt like hell, yet the albino still found himself smiling.

"What's your name?"

The girl, typically known as Liz or Eliza, was dumfounded. Part of her was almost impressed.

"Maybe you should've asked that before groping me, asshole."

Gilbert only laughed.

"It was an accident Frau, I swear I mean it's not like I felt anything, there wasn't much to feel-"

She flinched, quickly moving her foot.

"nO WAITWAIT I SWEAR YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A VERY NICE ASS-"

He moved to cross his legs, all happening at once as her foot collided with his nether regions. He was caught in a wince, frozen in position as he whimpered. At this point some kids were even videoing.

His brother ludwig only heard of this a few moments later, the blonde instantly shoving through the crowd and groaning at the sight. He stepped into the area, avoiding the girl's gaze as he gripped gilbert by the arm and lifted him up.

"Idiot." He hissed, shooting the crowd an apologetic look before dragging Gilbert away. In the albino's last few moments of eye contact, he managed to mouth 'call me", winking messily as Eliza rolled her eyes, shaking out a bruised hand and muttering her retort just loud enough for him to hear.


	5. Winding

Feliciano continued following the two brothers, leaning behind a set of lockers and not daring to peek his head out. The blonde- who's name he discovered to be Ludwig as that was the first thing the white haired boy haired boy uttered- currently had his brother seated against the locker, wiping the figure's nose with his own sleeve.

"Luuuudwig. Luuudyyyy-" he rambled slightly, speech slurred as blood continued dribbling down his face.

"Be quiet, Gilbert. Talking isn't helping. We spend one day here and you've already pissed people off.." Ludwig muttered lowly and silent questioned who of the pair was truly the older sibling.

"NONONO, I have news-" Gilbert frantically waved his arm, pointing to his wrist and grinning widely.

"What-" his brother drew back slightly, thankful that the albino's nose wasn't bleeding anymore. He looked excited, like he couldn't wait to speak.

"MY COUNTER FINALLY BROKE-" Gilbert's voice raised as he spoke excitedly, flashing Ludwig his wrist. The German eyed it carefully, blue eyes studying the Prussian and then frowning.

00'01'09

"..you still have a minute and nine seconds left, dipshit." Ludwig rolled his eyes as Gilbert huffed.

"That can't be right. I felt what you felt, what you described when yours stopped-"

The blonde froze.

"How do you know mine stopped." He growled, his brother rolling his eyes.

"I checked it while you were sleeping, duh. You think it was that weird kid-?"

This caused Feliciano, who'd been watching the whole scene unfold, to utter a small noise. He clamped a hand over his mouth and jumped back before he could be seen, Ludwig's sharp eyes just missing him.

"..hmph. I have no clue." The German exhaled and turned back to Gilbert. He still held his pale wrist, studying the counter. He frowned.

"..what's wrong brüdder? You don't make that face often."

Ludwig shifted his weight.

"I'm uh...well." He wasn't sure how to explain it. It wasn't natural going off of what he knew. Slowly he released the albino's wrist, letting Gilbert see for himself. Gilbert squinted.

"...that's not possible." He shook his head. "Maybe it's from getting hit in the face?" He winced and held his nose. "..or kicked in the-"

Cutting off his words was a sudden and loud explosion from down the hallway. It was somewhere along the line of a loud bang one would hear when dropping a large object- though the scent of fire wasn't normal. Nor was the sound of broken glass. The source of the incident was evidently the home economics room/kitchen, as that's where smoke soon began pouring from. Following the smoke came a very pissed off figure. He was tall, honey blonde hair singed along with a pair of broken glasses. His bomber jacket was also pretty beat up, though some markings may have given way to the idea of this being a common spectacle. He was muttering to himself, fists clenched as he headed down the hall and offered the Bielschmidt brothers a apologetic look.

"Judging by your surprised faces, I'm guessing you're new here." He wiped a spot of ash off of his cheek before exposing pure white teeth and a winning smile.

"Name's Alfred. That," he pointed back to the chaotic scene. "..was caused by my lovely brother, Iggy. He's a little on the salty side today so tread carefully. I gotta go catch the principal before this gets even more hellish. See ya later." The American exhaled and wiped his forehead, nodding and sweeping past them with the same smile. Once he met the corner he waved to an unseen figure.

"Oh, hey Feli."

The Italian had been knocked back slightly by sheer shock- no matter how common it may have been he was easily startled regardless. He shook his head, putting a finger to his lips. Alfred of course, who had all the common sense and understanding of a squirrel, simply grinned and waved anyways. Gilbert meanwhile had burst into laughter while Ludwig stood, peeking down the hall and then towards the corner. Gingerly, the Italian did the same as he too looked around, his amber eyes meeting Ludwig's blue only briefly.

"...Ah- the boy from before..?"

Both figures seemed to tense slightly, Ludwig from the heat in his wrist and feliciano from the sheer sight of Ludwig's well- general stature. The German was giant. He slowly nodded, Ludwig wordlessly turning and stepping towards a locker, opening it carefully and reaching through it. His and lbino brother offered the timid Italian a wave before turning to his wrist, cocky expression fading slightly at whatever he was looking at. Feli meanwhile had gotten up enough courage to stand close to Ludwig's side by the time the blonde had found the object.

"You left this at my house." He pressed it forwards, surprisingly gentle against Feliciano's chest. He chuckled slightly, taking it and covering his mouth.

"It's a gift. For you to eat."

"Eat?" Ludwig raised an eyebrow.

"Sí. Banana bread." Feliciano pulled back the tinfoil to reveal a hardened and stale chunk of banana bread, both figures avoiding each other's gaze. "I'll be sure to make you a new loaf, though. This one's a little...rocky."

"Probably still better than MY cooking, evidently." Ludwig had opened his mouth to speak, instead hearing a sharp English accent pass behind him. The figure had paler blonde hair than the earlier teen. His face however held the same slightly charred look, ash dusting his features and...rather large...eyebrows.

"Oooh so you've gotta be Arthur. Do you know a kid named Francis?"

Gilbert slowly stood, pulling down his sleeves and wiping his nose casually as he called to him. The tired brit only turned, bluntly responding.

"Unfortunately. Assuming you two are the new kids?"

"Ja." Gilbert grinned slightly, waving while Ludwig rolled his eyes, giving Arthur the apologetic look he typically gave many when his brother was present.

"Well, a shame we couldn't meet on fairer terms. I was simply heating a cup of ramen, if anyone asks." He let out an exasperated noise. "Oh, Feli. Lovino was looking for you by the way." The smaller figure nodded, giving Ludwig a weak look.

"It was ah..nice to see you.." he clutched the banana bread shakily and spun on his heel, nervously stepping away from the blonde who managed a nod.

"I'll uh- I hope to see you in the future."

Gilbert only snickered while the two exchanged nervous and awkward glances before Feli departed with Arthur. Ludwig felt like he'd only begun breathing again by the time the Italian had disappeared out of one of the doors.

"Perhaps I was wrong, brüdder. Maybe your English does need work."

"Shut up. Have you figured out your thing yet anyways?"

The albino looked down his arm only briefly before uttering a small curse.

"..it'll figure out itself. I'm certain. Besides ah-" he leaned against the locker. "They'll probably evacuate the building because of old eyebrows over there. We should get outta here."

Ludwig's eyes held sympathy for a moment, but Gilbert's red flashed with only anger in response.

Another path that happened to work it's way in was that of a figure known as Francis Bonnefoy. The same teenager with messy blond hair who currently had his seat beside Gilbert. Multiple times did he eye him briefly, leaning an elbow on his desk and snapping a photo of him on his phone. The albino tilted his head.

"..ah...what're you doing?"

Francis' thumbs froze in place as he typed, looking over at Gilbert. The german's arms were folded in an intimidating manor, one of his pale eyebrows raised.

"..sizing you up." The blonde muttered. Gilbert only laughed.

"..for what? You gay, man?"

The Frenchman's blue eyes were amused but unimpressed.

"Lovely introduction. I'm Francis." He let out a small chuckle as Gilbert went to speak.

"Oh. Nice. My name's Gilbe-"

"Gilbert Bielschmidt, correct?"

The pale figure shifted.

"...Ja. You know this how..?"

"I'm an office assistant, I know everything." He smiled. "I'm just showing you off to Tony. I think you're gonna be a pretty big hit here."

Gilbert responded with a small grin.

"Ehhh that's kind, but I think I'm pretty close soooo." He tapped his counter cockily.

"Aaaaahhh." He nodded with a knowing wink. "I see. Still. Tony, me, and some other kids are probably gonna be hanging out after school and there's this game called Mario Kart that's usually is fun with more players."

The albino smirked. "Sounds like a blast. Who's going?"

"Well- a few people. There's Feliciano and Lovino who usually go, though Lovino hasn't been around much. They're near twins aside from the height, I'll make sure to introduce you." His voice wavered slightly at the mention of the older Italian's name. "Then there's Alfred. I don't know if you have any classes with him but you'll know him when you see him. Very loud, rambunctious. Dabs too much.." Francis smiled. "Then there's his brother Arthur. More reserved type, but nice once you get to know him. Can't cook for shit, burnt off his eyebrows once. I think Kiku's coming this time too. Usually Alfred brings him along- he's homeschooled so you won't see him much around here." The Frenchman fiddled with his sleeve, particularly when he spoke about the 'Arthur' figure. Gilbert didn't comment, just nodding.

"Sounds fun. Anyone else?"

"Not that I can think of. Sometimes Liz and Feliks come by though I'm not sure if they'll make it this time.."

"Who?"

"Just two kids from the exchange program, Juniors. Feliks couldn't hurt a fly but Liz is scary."

"I'll watch my step." Gilbert laughed lightly and snapped his attention back to the front of classroom as the teacher began speaking. By the end of the class he'd managed to obtain Francis' number along with a few others, the German pausing to collect his things before following him out. He squinted down hallway, freezing and watching the figure approach a shorter blond kid standing at his locker. He couldn't see the words they were exchanging- though it looked serious. All he could see was the blonde snap at Francis before turning quickly and storming off towards what he'd been told was the recently redone kitchen.

Apparently some weird kid had accidentally blown it up the year before.


End file.
